In this land of hype and glory, there appeared a brief danger yesterday of Dr
Steve Peters being built up as the man to win the World Cup for England, but
the captain soon put paid to that. “He can’t help you do a Cruyff turn or a
40-yard pass better, but he can help you learn what goes off inside your
head,” Steven Gerrard said of the man he credits with prolonging his career.

The precise nature of Peters’s involvement at the World Cup finals will, to a
large extent, be left to individual players, but his presence in